Durham captain Dale Benkenstein once again proved to be the scourge of Yorkshire's bowlers on the second day of the LV Championship clash at the Riverside today.

When bad light ended play for the day with Durham on 293 for four, Benkenstein stood unbeaten on 64 to take his runs tally against Yorkshire over the past three seasons to an astonishing 691.

He went into the present game with an average against the Tykes of 78.37 and in the final match at Headingley last season he made 151 during a record-breaking seventh wicket partnership for Durham of 315.

In the match between the sides at Headingley in April he scored 83 in the first innings and in the meeting at Riverside last year he twice got into the 90s.

He is currently in a rich vein of form, his previous three innings in Championship and Friends Provident Trophy cricket having brought him 77 not out, 93 not out and 97 not out.

Yorkshire were strongly placed when they began the second day on 351 for six but they soon ran into further trouble from Ottis Gibson, who went on to record his Championship-best figures of seven for 81.

The West Indian all-rounder wasted little time in bowling Jacques Rudolph for a sparkling 111 off 190 deliveries, with 17 fours and a six, and later in the same over he got a ball to climb on Simon Guy, who helped it into Phil Mustard's gloves.

Darren Gough and Jason Gillespie both struck the ball hard as they made a gallant attempt to guide Yorkshire to 400 and a fifth batting bonus point but when they had added 27 together for the ninth wicket Gough was unable to remove his bat from another fine delivery from Gibson which seamed away and the innings ended on 393 as Gillespie chopped Graham Onions into his stumps.

The 38-year-old Gibson had exploited the conditions well and a combination of movement through the air and bounce off the pitch meant he was able to leave behind his previous best bowling in the competition of six for 43 for Leicestershire against Nottinghamshire in 2004.

Yorkshire could still feel happy with their final score and their grip on the game tightened as Durham lost both of their openers with 17 scored, Michael Di Venuto edging Gillespie to Guy and Will Smith deflecting a ball from Gough into his stumps.

Durham would have been 44 for three if Younus Khan had not dropped a sharp slip catch offered by Gordon Muchall, who moved easily on to 48 before being palpably lbw to Gillespie with the total on 83.

The game suddenly became much tougher for Yorkshire as Aberdeen-born Kyle Coetzer, a graduate of the Durham Academy, settled in well with former Pudsey St Lawrence player Benkenstein, who had made only six when he had to receive attention after being struck painfully on the right hand by a ball which spat at him from Gillespie.

Growing in confidence, Coetzer completed a half-century which contained nine boundaries and he breezed into the 80s by hooking Tim Bresnan for six but his concentration was broken by the tea interval and soon afterwards he aimed a cover drive at Anthony McGrath and got an inside edge into his stumps to depart for a Championship-best 91 off 170 balls with 14 fours and a six.

Benkenstein, 44 when his 131 stand with Coetzer ended, was then happy to let Mustard take over the bulk of the scoring on a pitch which had flattened out somewhat from earlier in the day and the Durham captain added just 19 while Mustard was easing his way to a half-century off 62 balls with ten boundaries.

Durham were exactly 100 runs adrift of Yorkshire when the umpires surprisingly brought the players off for bad light with seven overs of the day still remaining.